This application is based on patent application Nos. 11-39214 and 11-346290 filed in Japan, the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink that prints on the surface of the golf ball body without the need for a primer coat and forms marks having high durability, a printing method using the same, and a golf ball printed using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a mark such as trade mark or other identifying indicia is to be printed on an outer surface of the golf ball body with the prior art, a white paint is applied as a primer coat to the outer surface of the golf ball body followed by printing of the mark thereon, then a clear coat, usually transparent, commonly called a finish coat, is applied to the surface of the printed ball to protect the printed mark and improve the appearance of the golf ball. Due to the recent technological advancements, the number of applications is required to decrease. The primer coat tends to be eliminated in order to meet the requirement.
When the mark is directly printed on a surface of the cover made from a resin such as ionomer resin using conventional ink, however, there has been such a problem that ink does not adhere well to the ionomeric cover, thus resulting in insufficient durability of the printed mark. In order to solve this problem, a printing ink containing nitrocellulose to improve the adhesion to the ionomeric cover is suggested in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-112746. The printing ink adheres well not only to the ionomeric cover, but also to clear coat formed on the printed ink (i.e. mark), resulting in such a problem that the mark defined by ink disappears with clear coat due to wear or scaling.
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink for golf ball that can be used in printing of a mark directly on a cover made from ionomer resin without the need for a primer coat, and suppress excessive adhesion to clear coat formed on the mark while ensuring high durability of the mark, and to provide a golf ball having a durable mark printed thereon.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of printing a mark efficiently on a surface of a golf ball body using ink described above.
The present invention provides a printing ink for golf ball comprising an acrylic resin and a coloring agent.
The present invention also provides a golf ball comprising a ball body and a mark printed on a surface of a ball body. The mark is defined by ink comprising an acrylic resin and a coloring agent.
The present invention further provides a printing method, which comprises the steps of: transferring an ink to a pad, and printing a mark on a surface of a ball body with the inked pad. The ink comprises an acrylic resin and a coloring agent.
The term xe2x80x9cmarkxe2x80x9d as used in the invention means and includes a trademark and other identifying indicia.
These and other objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments/examples.